The Forgotten Guide To Happiness By Sophie Jenkins

[amazon_link id=”B078TX3CLD” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Forgotten Guide To Happiness’ is Sophie Jenkins debut novel

Twenty-eight-year-old Lana Green has never been good at making friends. She’s perfectly happy to be left alone with her books. Or at least, that’s what she tells herself. Nancy Ellis Hall was once a celebrated writer. Now eighty, she lives alone in her North London house, and thinks she’s doing just fine. But dementia is loosening Nancy’s grip on the world. When Lana and Nancy become unconventional house mates, their lives will change in ways they never expected. But can an unusual friendship rescue two women who don’t realise they need to be saved?

‘The Forgotten Guide To Happiness’ is a beautifully poignant and witty story that really grabbed my attention throughout. The story is seen through the narrative of Lana, a successful author who is struggling with her follow up second novel. Having suffered a recent heartbreak, she’s finding it difficult to write an upbeat story of love and positivity much to the dismay of her agent and bank balance. Finding herself not only broke but broken, she starts a new career as a romantic lecturer as well as becoming a carer for Nancy Ellis Hall, a literary icon on the cusp of dementia. Her step-son has stepped in as a reluctant hero to help Lana research her book as well as prove that heroes do exist.

This is a lovely story, Lana is a funny and regularly had been laughing at her anecdotes and crazy situations, as she relaxed into her new job as a lecturer and teaching others around her about love, even though she has given up on the concept after being left heartbroken. Nancy is a boisterous character that really lit up the pages of the story, outspoken, creative and deliciously kind hearted, it was hard not to fall in love with the old dear as she spoke frankly of love and her own experiences. She becomes across as quite a hardhearted character, but she’s actually quiet vulnerable and hides behind this facade. Scenes between her and Lana are wonderfully funny and occasionally tender moments. Whilst Jack, the budding hero of the story is quite a charismatic gentleman who is out to prove to Lana, that there are still some heroes in the world.

Wonderfully lighthearted but deliciously fun, ‘The Forgotten Guide To Happiness’, is an entertaining story of friendship and new beginnings.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”B078TX3CLD” target=”_blank” ]The Forgotten Guide to Happiness from Amazon [/amazon_link] and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 9th August 2018.